Staff

David Ruff, Executive DirectorDavid Ruff is executive director of the Great Schools Partnership, where he leads a wide variety of school-improvement initiatives. David earned a B.A. in English from Dartmouth University in 1985. He began his career in education as an English teacher at Thornton Academy in Saco, Maine, where he worked for seven years with students of all academic abilities. David was also a member of the Maine Commission on Secondary Education, the task force that crafted Promising Futures, and he has served on the Executive Board of the Coalition of Essential Schools and on the National Foxfire Coordinator Board for the Foxfire Fund. He lives in Portland, Maine, with his wife and two children. >>email David

Mark Kostin, Associate DirectorMark is associate director of the Great Schools Partnership, where he coaches several high schools in Maine, provides professional development to principals and teachers, and technical assistance to districts and state agencies. Mark’s professional interests include collaborative school improvement, the role of schools in a democracy, the educational challenges facing boys, and equitable access to knowledge for all students. Mark earned his BS in chemistry and a DipEd in secondary education from McGill University in Montreal, in addition to a MEd in administration and planning and an EdD in leadership and policy studies from the University of Vermont. He has served on local, state, and national boards and has been involved in supporting teaching and learning since 1989, when he began teaching science in a large high school in Toronto, Canada. Mark was formerly associate principal at Middlebury Union High School and an assistant professor of secondary education and director of partnerships and field experiences at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. He lives in Yarmouth, Maine, with his wife and three children. >>email Mark

Angela Hardy, Director of CoachingAngela Hardy is the director of coaching for the Great Schools Partnership. After 15 years in education, Angela joined the organization as a Senior Associate and spent time coaching in Maine schools and supporting the development of tools and resources for proficiency-based learning systems. Angela currently supports the coordination of the League of Innovative Schools and co-directs the NextGen Personalized Learning initiative. She continues to coach in Maine and support the team of Senior Associates as they work with schools and districts across the region and the nation. Angela’s professional interests include assessment, mentoring of new teachers, and curriculum and staff development. Angela earned her BS in elementary education from the University of Maine at Farmington and MEd from the University of Southern Maine. She was a K–8 teacher in coastal Maine before transitioning into administrative roles at the building, district, and county level. Much of her administrative work focused on developing ongoing professional-learning experiences for educators and supporting networks of professionals inclined to learn from and with one another. Before joining Great Schools Partnership, Angela was an experiential education center director and co-director of teacher education for a grades 7–12 science preparation program at a small, private college. She lives in China, Maine, with her husband and two children. >>email Angela

Duke Albanese, Senior Policy AdvisorDuke Albanese is senior policy advisor for the Great Schools Partnership. His career in education has spanned forty years, including service as the Commissioner of Education for the State of Maine (1996–2003) and a long tenure as the superintendent of schools for the Messalonskee School District in the Belgrade Lakes Region of Maine. Duke is a nationally sought-after adviser and speaker on educational issues and policies, and a founding director of the Sports Done Right initiative at the University of Maine. Originally hailing from East Providence, Rhode Island, he attended public schools before earning a B.A. from Bowdoin College and an M.Ed. in guidance and counseling and a C.A.S. in educational administration from the University of Maine. Duke and his wife, Nancy, live in Brunswick, Maine, and have two grown children, Derek and Kelsey, and two grandchildren. >>email Duke

Sarah Linet, Policy SpecialistSarah Linet is a project specialist with the Great Schools Partnership. Her professional interests include increasing equity and access in public education. Sarah graduated with a B.A. in Politics from Brandeis University and a Master’s degree in Urban Education Policy from Brown University. During graduate school, Sarah was a research assistant at the Annenberg Institute for School reform working on a variety of community engagement and policy projects. She has also worked for the Muskie School at the University of Southern Maine and the Center for Education, Policy, Applied Research, and Evaluation also at the University of Southern Maine. She lives in Portland where she enjoys walks around the back cove, summers in the ocean, and spending time with her family. >>email Sarah

Proficiency-Based Learning Simplified

Developed by the Great Schools Partnership, Proficiency-Based Learning Simplified helps schools develop efficient and effective standards-based systems that will prepare all students for success in the colleges, careers and communities of the 21st century.